Vets & Excess

[sox]

Further to my other post about Tesco Pet Insurance.

Do any of you have to pay the full amount at your vets and then get the money back?

I assumed when taking out pet insurance you only had to pay the excess  in my case £60.00. But after too surgeries on Sox this year I have had to pay out the full amount both times.  Its ok if you have the money but what would you happen if you didnt have the money, after all thats what I thought the excess was all about 

I can understand how people fret about vet bills and not being able to pay them, is this the same with all vets or is just under the vets discretion? I was only expecting the last bill to be about £150.00 but when I went to collect Sox and was told the bill was £300 odd I gulped and thought how on earth can I pay for that, fortunately I was able to pay the remainding amount the following week when I got paid. But the vets would not send the claim off till the balance was paid.

What I dont understand is if the vets let the Pet Insurance pay them directly this would surely help all thier customers.....

Are my vets just a minority or are vets all like this I dont see the point in the excess if you have to pay the vets first and then claim the money back.

[MIN]

WE have allways has to pay upfront (tesco and pet plan). but I think direct line will pay vets direct, but then their premiums are dearer

[Emilyoliver]

Am with Sainsbury's and have to pay in full. Currently have £2100 on c/card after MRI - still waiting for Sainsbury's to pay...  Lean Christmas over here.

[sox]

Emilyoliver - ekkkkkkkkkkkkk seriously - and there was me going on about £300 - how long ago did Sainsbury get the claim? im lucky just to wait 3 days from them receiving the claim to paying out.

Min - I thought maybe it was my vets, seems thats not the case at all. maybe its to do with the state of the country just now?

[debbiedaywalker]

Am with Sainsbury's and have to pay in full. Currently have £2100 on c/card after MRI - still waiting for Sainsbury's to pay...  Lean Christmas over here.

I'm with Sainsbury's too and have found that they don't pay out quickly, I'm waiting on a claim from over three weeks ago.....

[vixen]

I'm with Sainsbury's too and have found that they don't pay out quickly, I'm waiting on a claim from over three weeks ago.....

I'm with Sainsburys too and also think they are slow to pay out  .
What really annoys me is that before I get my cheque, they send me a letter saying how much they are sending me  .

[sox]

I just receive a text to say they have the claim and that I will receive payment in the next 5 to 10 working days (more like 3 days including the weekends)

Thats shocking that you all have to wait such a long time for Sainsburys to pay out 

[GeoW]

I'm with Sainsbury's and my Vet dealt with the whole thing for me when we were involved with George's illness before he died.

Sainsbury's paid the Vet directly, minus the excess, and we paid the Vet the balance as each claim was sorted.

We have been long standing clients of our Vets, I don't know if that made a difference, but Sainsbury's also settled promptly and without quibble.

[Darwin]

I think it's the same with most pet insurance companies.  Part of the the delay with be due to the insurance company and then it depends on how long it takes the vets to process it as well.  Think most vets prefer to have the client pay and then claim it back as they've been caught out many times by clients saying they got insurance but haven't or their a problem.

It's a right pain  , but nothing we can do about it.

[supergirl]

When I had my first dog I was with More Than and when Indie became ill her bill reached £4500 within a week.  I was very lucky in that I've been with the same vets for a very long time and they offered to claim direct on my behalf, something they only do with Petplan.  I actually paid them myself and re-claimed.  I had a cheque in about a week, so not too bad. (the excess was 15% of the total, so that was a bit of a shock but was deducted from the total.)

My last claim was with Lexi and I was with Sainsburys, not a huge claim about £400 and it took about 3-4weeks for the cheque to come.  I did call the vets to make sure that they had sent the claim off and that there had been no queries, but all was fine.

[vixen]

My two girls are insured with Sainsburys and they have paid out for all of Marley's arthritis claims and for her hydrotherapy. No quibbles about that but they are slow in paying out.
As expected, Marley's premium has gone up to reflect her ongoing problems but what surprised me was that on examining the new policies, Stevie's now includes 10% of the treatment PLUS the usual excess.
When I queried this as there is no 10% on Marley's policy, I was told that as I had NEVER claimed for Stevie, that was the reason for the addition 10%!  Seems crazy to me that if I do have to claim for Stevie in the future, I will be penalized for her previous good health!

[Emilyoliver]

I just receive a text to say they have the claim and that I will receive payment in the next 5 to 10 working days (more like 3 days including the weekends)

Thats shocking that you all have to wait such a long time for Sainsburys to pay out  

Sainsbury's received the claim on 6th December. But I've only now had a letter saying they need a letter from my vet stating that Ollie was referred by them. They will then assess the claim, so I don't actually even know whether they will pay it! I do definitely know that it won't be processed before Christmas... Sox, sounds like Tesco's are good, especially as far as communication goes.

(I shouldn't get started on the topic of pet insurance as it gets my blood pressure right up - my premiums are currently over £110 per month for my two dogs, and I fully expect an extortionate increase next year as a result of this latest claim).

[debbiedaywalker]

I'm with Sainsbury's too and have found that they don't pay out quickly, I'm waiting on a claim from over three weeks ago.....

I'm with Sainsburys too and also think they are slow to pay out  .
What really annoys me is that before I get my cheque, they send me a letter saying how much they are sending me  .

Yes, I got a separate letter too! For the first part of the claim, although it did come after the cheque  

[elaine.e]

I'm with NFU and have to pay the vet in full then make a claim. NFU aren't the quickest to pay up, usually 2 to 3 weeks, so I chase them up if they haven't paid me 2 weeks after the vet has completed his part of the claim.

William is 8 and I've claimed a lot in the past for an MRI scan on his back, physio for his back and 2 lots of eye surgery, plus an ongoing claim for lifetime treatment for dry eye. His excess went up to £80 this year but I don't have to pay any excess on the ongoing claims for dry eye treatment since paying it when I first claimed about 3 years ago. Louis is 3 and his excess is £55. So far I've not had to claim anything for him.

[debbiedaywalker]

I just receive a text to say they have the claim and that I will receive payment in the next 5 to 10 working days (more like 3 days including the weekends)

Thats shocking that you all have to wait such a long time for Sainsburys to pay out  

Sainsbury's received the claim on 6th December. But I've only now had a letter saying they need a letter from my vet stating that Ollie was referred by them. They will then assess the claim, so I don't actually even know whether they will pay it! I do definitely know that it won't be processed before Christmas... Sox, sounds like Tesco's are good, especially as far as communication goes.

I had this too! It was only after they had sat on the claim for several weeks that I rang them and they said that they couldn't process the claim because they needed a letter from the Vet's to prove that I had been referred. My Vet had never known them to ask for this before   why didn't they call me to ask for it?!